LONDON -- All being well, there will be a general election in Britain on June 7. It is not yet official but it seems almost certain.
From the government's point of view, "all being well" means that the foot-and-mouth epidemic, which is leading to the mass slaughter of farm animals, will by then have subsided somewhat. The widespread feeling that Prime Minister Tony Blair should put the defeat of the epidemic first and electioneering second will by then have been assuaged, goes that argument, and the campaign can go forward as normal.
This judgment is probably correct. The originally intended date of May 3 would undoubtedly have looked wrong and Blair's decision to postpone both local and national elections for a month was the right one.